(Source: USA Today)
— Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney leads the presidential cash race in the Show-Me State, with more campaign contributions from individual donors from than his Republican opponents and President Obama combined.
Romney has raised nearly $1.05 million from Missouri donors — nearly half of the entire $2.1 million contributed by Missourians this cycle, according to data compiled by the USA Today.
Big campaign coffers and more donations did not necessarily guarantee big enthusiasm and more votes on election day, however. For instance, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum raised less than $8,000, less than a single percentage point of the total funds donated from Missouri, but received more than 55 percent of the vote in the state’s non-binding Republican primary earlier this month.
That race, Romney supporters point out, was hardly contested (Santorum was the only candidate to campaign in Missouri before election day), and he, and Romney, will face an important challenge next month when Republicans caucus to select their delegates.
“Governor Romney is going to be in the state and campaigning vigorously,” former Sen. Jim Talent, a Romney surrogate, told reporters earlier this week.
Romney’s previous time in the state has been largely spent on fundraising. He was in Missouri multiple times last fall, raising funds in St. Louis and Springfield.
Obama, too, has spent time in Missouri raising campaign cash. His last trip to Missouri in October was focused exclusively on raising campaign cash, with multiple fundraisers in St. Louis.
Obama pulled nearly 38 percent of campaign contributions this cycle from Missouri donors.
email: eli [at] politicmo.com | phone: 417.597.3873 | twitter: @eyokley 
Early GOP donations (including mine) went to Romney. But now more and more of us are switching over to Santorum. He is the most electable in November. He is a solid candidate. He’s getting my dollars, my campaign time, and my vote.